2. Accident or Design
Of course, sometimes, you arrive at things by accident... like using rice as part of my seasoning for fish. It happened when I was making puffed rice. That's where you blow wild rice at 200º C until it puffs, a bit like popcorn. I just started experimenting, and found that if I crushed it, and mixed in liquorice, sea salt and orange-powder, I got an interesting crust on the skin of the fish.
At the moment, I'm working on creating extracts, which I like a lot. I began by cooking a classic version, then using modern techniques I should be able to capture a pure flavour with out the stewed effect taking place or over cooked taste... but it will taste quite different. In my head I know what I want to create, but it's translating that into reality that takes the time. Some dishes come quicker than others. This is going to take a while...
There's always a new dish in the back of my mind. I suppose that's what drives me. I know money makes the world go round, but Fraiche isn't money-driven. It doesn't give me sufficient incentive.
I'm one of those passionate people who are a bit stupid in the head, who aren't that interested in financial gain. Ideally, money would be nice to have. Then I'd go and eat at Per Se, Thomas Keller's restaurant in New York. I suppose everything revolves around food with me!
My friends call me obsessed... I am obsessed! But to be good at anything, I don't see how you can't be slightly bonkers about it. Take Salvador Dalí for example. I love Dalí... I've visited his galleries in Figueres, Madrid and Barcelona. I think he was slightly mad, bless him, but look what work that produced!
Ferran Adrià, the most influential chef in the world, is another instance, but he's reaching the heights because of it. I met him at his restaurant, El Bulli, which is regularly voted the best in the world. He and his brother Albert, and the rest of the team, refuse to accept the same parameters as other people. It's the only way to break new ground.